Diego De Ayora

1926 - 2008

Passed away on April 8, 2008 at the age of 81 after a courageous 3 month battle with brain cancer.
Diego is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Ann, and their two sons Michael and Paul (Ann de Ayora). Diego's
pride and joy were his six grandchildren, Amy (Younes Benomar), Emily, Kate, Ben, Luke, Nicole, and his great-grandson, Ilias. He is also survived by his two sisters, Michelle Buchanan of La Verne and Lucy Sandoval of Los Gatos.
Diego was born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1926. He met Ann on August 6, 1944, and this was the beginning of an amazing adventure, as she was the love of his life. They were married on March 1, 1947. After they were married, they dreamed about living in the United States. However after the WWII, it was very difficult to immigrate here. Ann and Diego moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina in September of 1947, without speaking any Spanish. It is here where their son Michael was born. In September, 1952, they finally made it to the United States, arriving in New York City. Paul, their second son, was born in May, 1953. Diego would often introduce Paul to other people as being the only foreigner in the family.
Without a formal high school education, Diego had an amazing professional career. He started work at Shulton (Old Spice), and in 1966, the family moved to Glendale, California when Diego started working for Max Factor. After a long career at Max Factor, Diego also worked for Vidal Sassoon and Neutrogena before retiring in 1990. He made it to the top executive levels of the corporate world and he was proud of his accomplishments. He worked hard and was extremely loyal to the people he worked for and the people who worked for him. Through his job, Diego and Ann were able to travel the world. He was a great business man and loved to tell stories about all his business adventures.
Diego and Ann moved to Merced in 1990 to be closer to their two sons and their families. They continued to travel, but Diego's favorite thing was to be around his extraordinary grandchildren. He loved them all so much. During his illness, all six grandchildren and Amy's husband Younes were amazing as to how they treated their grandfather. He was truly blessed ! His great-grandson, Ilias, was his pride and joy.
Diego's passion, besides his family, was music. As a child growing up, he would come home with a different record every day. Opera, Jazz, Tangos, Rock and Roll, It didn't matter. He loved to sing!! He was always singing!! He spent many afternoons singing to residents at convalescent homes throughout Merced with his Karaoke machine. He also organized a yearly Christmas Party at the Senior Center.
Diego had a great sense of humor and enjoyed talking to people. It didn't matter where he was, he was always striking up a conversation with someone. He was a character who loved to tell jokes and stories.
My father lived an amazing life, but it could not have been accomplished without the love and friendship of his wife, Ann, who was with him until the very end. Through thick and thin, they were always together. No greater love story is possible. They had a wonderful life together, an amazing adventure.
Diego's family would like to thank Dr. Gallery, Dr. Via, the nursing staff at MCMC (especially Miranda and Pam), the staff at Stanford University Medical Center, and the staff at Hylond Convalescent Home for their kind and caring treatment. They treated my father with the utmost respect and dignity and they made this very difficult time easier on him and on the family.
My father requested that no formal services be held.